john g



J. e. IONES.

WRAPPING PROCESS. APPLICATION FILED APR. I6. I9I7 1,313,234. PatentedAugJaww.

mmm l II IIIII I y Ag|| UNITED sTATEs PATENT o'EEioE.

JOI-IN G. JONES, 0F ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY,

OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WRAPPING PROCESS.

To all whom t may concern.'

`Be it known that I, JOHN G. JONES, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Wrapping Processes; and I do herebydeclarej the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, 'reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

This invention relates to a wrapping process. More particularly it relates to the formation of individual, substantially tight, and moisture proof protective wrappings about objects to be preserved, such as spoolsy having a sensitive photographic roll vfilm wound thereon.

The principal objects of my invention ar to provide process steps of such a nature and sequence that protective wrappings may be applied to articles rapidly, cheaply, and reliably, on a large scale; to provide a process which will not require complex `or slow which will not become loose or unlocked dur-- ing twisting, severing, and compressing operations; to .employ a,` shearing operation which compresses the material prior to severing it; to use wrapping materials particularly adapted to the operations of my process, said materials combining adequate ten- 'sile strength with the ability tomaintain substantially unaltered the bends and folds formed therein during my process, and also being proof, when necessary, againstv moisture and emanations harmful to photographic emulsions; to manipulate thetube during the twisting and similar steps by grasping the walls thereof at p-oints where they are supported by the flanges 'of the contained spools, so that danger of injuring Specicati'on of Letters Patent.

the unsupported portions of the tube Walls is eliminated; and to compensate during the twisting operation for the material which enters into the twist by approaching the adjacent spools, thereby avoiding injurious object of my invention is to produce a moisture proof covering for an article, said covering having a locked side seam and the ends thereof consisting of substantially regular folds which converge toward the center of the ends of the object and are compacted into a substantially impervious sheet.' Other -objects will hereinafter appear.

' While my invention is of general applicability, it is especially useful forthe wrapping ofloaded film spools on a commercial scale. I shall, therefore, describegas an examplethereof, its application to that particular field. j

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which like' referencenumerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure 1 isa diagram sh wing the steps of my process and illustrating in side elevation one of the means which may beused in carrying them out.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line .2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a section taken on the line L1 4 in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5--5 inFig.1.-.

Fig. 5A is a section taken on line 5 A-5A in Fig. 1. f

. Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the product resulting from my process.

In the presenteXample of my process the general sequence of operationsis to first form a locked seam tube about a series of articles in spaced relation and then form a twist in the tube between the end object and the second object and severvthe tube at the twist. Next a twist' is formed in the tube between the second and third objects and the tube is severed at the second twist. By repeating the twisting and severing operations successively along the tube I separate and Patented Aug. 12, 1919.`

Application led April 16', 1917. Serial No. 162,520.

lstresses in the material of the tube. Another l Cin individually Wrap the articles, each being surrounded by a Wrapping having a locked side seam and somewhat conical or taperingv twisted ends. These twisted ends are then compacted closely against the ends of the inclosed articles.

Referringv to F ig. 1, a strip or sheet of Suitable wrapping material a which may be conveniently contained in a roll 1 is fed forwardly in a longitudinal direction intermittently over a suitable guidino` means, such as roll It then passes into a sbapino4 trough 8 and under feed chute i from Whic spools b are fed under the strip intermittently, one spool being dropped on to the strip during each period of rest. This spool feeding operation may be done by any of the means well known in analogous arts or by hand. The trough progressively bends upward the edges of the strip a into the forms indicated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 thusstarting the tube forming operation.

The periodic or intermittent movements of sheet a are of such a length that the spools b will be spaced thereon a predetermined distance apart and will preferably lie longitudinally thereon in axial alinement. The front part of the partially formed tube enters the die 5, which, by means of smoothly turning guideways, forms -a tight locked scam 14, as indicated iii Fig. '.7, the intermediate steps of the seam formation being in d'icated in Figs. 5, 5A and 6. The seam is thus formed during the intermittent for ward movements ofthe strip a, so as to coinplete a tube concentrically about the film spools. rlhe movement of the strip and tube and spools is accomplished by grasping the tube near the foremost spool of the series and pulling it forwardly 'to the twisting position shown at the extreme right in i.. This may be done by hand, but in work on a large scale will preferably be done by automatic means (not shown).

lllhen the end or first spool has been fed to a position nfliere it can be acted upon by the rolls 9 said rolls are operated to rotate the section of tube surrounding lthe irst spool relative to the portion of tube surrounding tlie second. spool. Any suitable four, may be number of rolls, say three or employed. This operation produces in the tube a double tapering portion, comprising the approximately conical ends 'E' which ineet at closely compacted twisted and joined apices 8. These apices are twisted sindiciently to be practically air tighter moisture prowof. l .the tube is nonT severed by shears 6, 6 between these apices S, whereby there is produced a parcel i0 consisting of a film spool inclosed in a Wrapper having a locked side seam and tapering ends, having substantially regular'folds which converge toward the apices 8. Of course, when starting the process there will be no tapering portion 7 at the outermost end of the tube, but thereafter, as long as strip a and spools Z; are supplied, there will always be one of the tapering constricted ends 7 upon the outermost end of the tube.

lThe ends7 of the parcel l0 are next coinpressed against the ends of the contained film spool so as to conform to the shape thereof. ln other Words the folds lie flat in the form of a substantially impervious sheet, the pressure which may be applied by heads ll, being sufficient to compact the folds to make the package tight.

My process possesses triple assurance that the ends of the parcel shallbe tight and iinpervious. The twisting operation makes the apices 8 tight. 'the shearing operation also compressesapices 8, and the final pressure applied by heads l1 tightly compresses the ends, lllhile the action of heads l1 is the main compressing operation, the other operations supplement it so that an accidental impairment of one operation will be corrected by the other compressing operations, the product remaining uniformly tightA rllhe material out of which the strip a is made may, of course, be any suitable wrap-- ping material. but' for the wrapping of film spools by my process l find that superposed layers of waxed paper and metal foil are Jdie best. The feeding operation, by means of a pull upon the forward spool, subjects the tube and strip to longitudinal stresses, and tlie paper, which has a greater tensile strength than the foil, aids the latter in resisting` the tendency to tear. The metal foil is particularly useful, because it has a low elastic limit and thus maintains the form into which it is folded. it thus maintains the locked seam in a tight condition, there being no tendency for the folds to spring out and open as would be the case with'u more resilient substance. Thus the paper and foil supplement each other.

lui'ing the twisting operation, the material of the tube that enters into the twist tends to occupy a shorter length. Each twist calls for a longitudinal contraction. Consequently, if the spools were held at a. constant distance apart during the twisting, v ry severe stresses would be set up in the twisted material and a rupture thereof would be possible. To avoid this, the scct-ions of tube surrounding` the two outermost spools are pushed toward each other either prior to or during the twisting operation, thereby compensating for the material which enters the twist. This approaching of the tubesections (and contained film spools) is most conveniently done by giving the second 'spool (7)2 of the series a slight additional feeding movement toward the first spool 7), such additional movement being performed by an additional motion of the feeding means which, as before mentioned, may be any of' A spool between rolls 9, the feeding means may return and grip the tube at a point outside spool b2, or preferably outside the forward end of said'spool. Spool b2 and the surrounding tube may then be given the described additional movement to compensate for the twist. After the twisting and severing operations, spool b2 Iand the surrounding tube are in their turn fully fed between rolls 9, and so on. j

While other severing means may sometimes be employed, the shears 6, 6 have the advantage that they tend to compact the folds of the constricted apices 8 prior to severing them, thus contributing toward the certainty of a tight joint in the finished' product.

lVith some kinds of wrapping material,

especially those which comprise metal foil,

the tube must be carefully handled and manipulated during the advancing operation when the outermost spool is pulled forward, and during the twisting operation. I have found vthat this liability to 'injury to the wrapper or cover is avoided by grasping the tube and by applying turning forces to it at those points of the tube walls which are 0pposite the flanges of the contained spools. Thus in Fig. 1, it will be noted that the rollers'9 are opposite the flanges of the contained spool.

The product of this process is very uniform in quality and the Wrappings thereof are particularly tight and impervious to. moisture and harmful emanations.L In the first place the locked side seam 14 is of such a'nature that it does not become open or loose during the twisting operation and so reaches the final product in a perfectly tight condition, unlike lan ordinary lap joint which easily becomes loose enough to admit moist air, even lwhen it appears tight to the eye. Of course, any of the well known locked seams -which are commonly employed in wrapping operations could be substituted for the seam shown in Fig. 7 the particular nature of the locked seam being immaterial so long as it particularly coperates with the subsequent steps of my process. By a locked seam then, I mean one in which the parts are so securely joined that they will not become loose or pervious when the tube is twisted. In cases where the articles to be wrapped would not be injured by the ternperature it is within the province of my invention to employ soldering, welding, or sticking, of the metal foil edges by pressing and heating means which are known in the art. Of course the cross sectional, shape of the tube will depend upon the shape of the objects to be wrapped and is not necessarily circular. f

llVhile I have illustrated my invention as applied to the wrapping of cylindrical flanged spools containing roll lm, it is obvious that it -could be applied to objects of other shapes and sizes within the scope of the appended claims. Instead of placing one article in a parcel, groups of articles may be wrapped, such, for example, as two alined film lspools in one wrapper. Furthermore, it is noted that the several steps of my process may be carried out by hand or partly by hand and partly by mechanism where automatic machinery is not available, spaced operators being placed at the station where the spools are fed on to the strip, where the tube is formed around the spools, wherethe locked seam is formed, where the feeding and twisting takes place, where the shearing is performed, and Where the compressing is done. Ordinarily and preferably, however, my process is 'carried out by machinery.

I claim: i

. 1. The process of forming wrappings about objects, which comprises assembling a sheet of flexible wrapping material with the objects to be Ywrapped in spaced relation thereon, forming a tube from said material about said objects, said tube having a locked seam, twisting the portion of the tube around -one object relative to the tube which surrounds an adjacent object, severing the tube at the twisted portion and finally compressing ,a severed end.

2. The lprocess of wrapping objects which comprises 'assembling a sheet of flexible wrapping material with the objects to be wrapped in spaced relation thereon, forming said sheet into a lock-seamed tube around said objects, twisting one portion of the tube with the object contained therein relative to the next adjacenty portion of the tube containing an object, so as to form a twisted double tapering constri-cted portion between the objects, severing the tube at the constricted portion and finally compressing a severed end to substantially conform Ato the shape of .the wrapped object. Y

-3. The process of wrapping cylindrical objects, which comprises assembling a strip 4. The process of wrapping objects, which comprises assembling with a sheet of flexible wrapping material a series of objects in spaced relation, forming a locked seam tube feeding thereof, Jforming which comprises from said sheet around said objects, forming a twist in the tube between the end object and the second obj ect, severing the tube at the twist, forming a twist in the tube between the second and third objects and severing the tuibe at the twist, and repeating the twistorming and severing operations successively throughout the series, the twisted ends of the tube portion surrounding each `object being finally compressed onto said object. l

5. The process of Wrapping a series of cylindrical objects which comprises assein.- bling a strip of flexible wrapping material with a series of cylindrical objects spaced longitudinally of said strip and in axial alineinent thereon, forming a locked seam tulbe from said strip about said objects, fonming a twist Iin the tulbe'betwcen the lirst and second objects of the series, severing the tube at the twist, forming a twist in the tube between the second and third objects, severing at the twist, and 'repeating the twisting an d severing operations successively through out the series, the twisted ends of the tube portion surrounding each object being linally compressed onto the ends of the object.

6'. The process of wrapping a series of objects, Iwhich co i prises assembling with a exible wrapping strip comprising metal foil a series of objects to be wrapped in spaced relation, forming looked seam tube around said ects from said stri twisting the tulbe surrounding one obje-cnL relative to the tube surrounding an adjacent object to form a twisted double tapering constricted portion, severing at the constricted portion and finally compressing a severed end to contorni to the end surface ot a contained object,

i'. The proces coin-,prises assein jects in spacco e locked seam tub objects', twist object relative adjacent o ject, between said sever" it, and end to contorni i l tained object.,

'-tlie tube surrounding one success' 4 forming said i o into a locked seain tube during the ist in the tube between the first and second spool of the series, severing the tube the twist, forming twist in the tube between the second and third spool, severing the tube at the twist, and repeating the twist forming and` severing operations successively throughout the series, the severed ends being compressed onto the ends of the spools.

9. The process of wrapping flanged spools which comprises assembling a sheet of iexble wrapping material with the spools to be wrapped in spaced relation and in alinement thereon, forming said sheet into a tight seamedtube around said spools and substantially concentric therewith, turning the portion of tube containing one spool relative to the portion of tube containing the next adjacent spool to form a closely twisted constricted portion, the tube being grasped duringv such operations at points where the tube walls are supported by the spool anges, and severing the tube at the constricted portion.

l0. The process of wrapping flanged spools which includes the steps of assembling a sheet of wrapping material, which comprises metal foil, with a series of spools to be wrapped in spaced relation and in alinement thereon, forming said sheet into a locked seam tube around said spools andsubstantially concentric therewith, turning the portion of tube containing an end spool of the series relative to the portion of tube surrounding the next adjacent spool to form a closely twisted constricted portion, severing the tube at the constricted portion, repeating the turning Vand severing operations throughout the successive portions of tube surrounding the spools of the series, the tube being grasped during the turning operation at points where the tube walls are supported by the spool iianges.

ll. The process of wrapping articles, which comprises pulling longitudinally a strip of combined paper and metal toil, placing thereon successively in spaced relation a Y series of objects, forming a locked-seam tube from said strip about the` spaced. objects, twisting the tube surrounding the outermost object relative to the tube surrounding the rest of the series,.so as to forni a closely twisted portion in the tube, severingthe tube at the .twisted portion, repeating the twisting and severing' operation successively throughout the portions of tube surrounding the series of objects, the strip and tube be ing advanced by pulling during such operations, and rinally compressing thesevered ends.

l2, The process of forming individual packages for a series of objects contained in a tight tube of iicxible material, which coniirises vtwisting the portion of tube surround-- ing one object relative to the portion of tube around an adjacent object so as to form a twisted double tapering constricted portion, severing the tube at the constricted portion and finally compressing a severed end to con torni to an end surface of a contained object.

- series relative to the tube surrounding the second spool so as to form a twisted double -tapering constricted portion therebetween,

severing`the tube at the constricted portion, repeating the turning and severing operations successively throughout the tube and series of spools, and finally compressing the severed ends against the ends of the spools.

14. The process of wrapping film spools which comprises, advancin step by step a strip of paper and metal foil longitudinally, feeding a series of film spools thereon transversely and intermittently, one spoolbeing.

fed during each period of rest of said strip, forming a locked seam tube from said strip about said spools progressively during each period of advance of said strip, tightly twisting the portion of tube between the first andl second spools, severing the tube at the twist, advancing the tube, tightly twisting the p0rtion of tube between the second and third spools, severing the tube at the twist, re-

peating the advancing twistin and severing operations throughoutthe tu e and series of spools to form a series of separated spools each having ^an individual wrapping with twisted ends, and compressing said twisted ends onto the ends of each spool.

15. The process of wrapping objects, which comprises assembling with a sheet of flexible wrapping material a series of objects in spaced relation, forming a locked seam tube from said sheet around said objects, forming a twist in the tube between the first and secondn objects of the series, said first and second objects being relatively approached to compensate for the twist, severing at the twist, repeating the twisting, approaching, and severing steps throughout the series. l

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses thisYLth day of April,- 1917, atRochester, N.

` JOHN G. JONES.

Witnesses:

GEORGE COURTNEY COOKE, C. E. MARTIN. 

